AMAZON

Originally, I had read The Making of Mrs. Hale by Carolyn Miller in early December, but due to a family emergency involving my grandmother and dealing with everything Christmas, I had completely forgotten what the book was actually about when it came time for me to write my review for it. I ended up rereading it last week, so I could refresh my memory.

The Making of Mrs. Hale (a.k.a. - the third book in the Regency Brides: A Promise of Hope) centers around Julia Winthrop, a young woman who had ran off and married Thomas Hale eighteen months ago. I guess you can say her marriage hasn't been a "happily ever after" one, as her husband is never around. Actually, Thomas seems to be missing!

Julia's husband has disappeared and she has no idea what has happened to him. Believing she's carrying his child, she has no other choice but to to return home to her family, who she had betrayed by eloping with Thomas in the first place. Of course her family wants her to divorce him right away, but Julia is still deeply in love with Thomas and hopes he will return to her.

Final Thoughts

MILL CREEK ENT. * AMAZON

I watch many different genres of horror including the controversial "torture porn," which is what modern "splatter films" are now called. The 2005 film Hostel was the first to be labeled "torture porn," though the new genre trend really started in 2004 with the original Saw. These types of films rely less on horror and more on gore.

Yesterday, Mill Creek Entertainment released the Horror Double Feature Blu-ray + DVD set ($14.98) featuring the director's  cut of Hostel and its sequel Hostel Part II (unrated director's cut). The only special feature on the two-disc set is an "Alternate Director's Cut Ending," which is only included on the DVD.

Presented by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Eli Roth, Hostel (2005; 94 minutes) centers on two American tourist, Paxton and Josh, (played by Jay Hernandez and Derek Richardson) backpacking across Europe with their Icelandic pal Óli (played by Eyþór Guðjónsson). They travel to Amsterdam, where the trio have only have two things on their minds - parting and women. Shortly after arriving, they are told if they want to have a good time, then they need to go to the hostel in Slovakia, which is exactly what they do. Unfortunately, that was their biggest mistake. Unknowingly to them, Slovakia is home to a secret elite hunting group, where tourist are kidnapped and are given to the rich to be tortured to death.

Eli Roth returned to write and direct Hostel Part II (2007; 95 minutes). The sequel centers on three American art students, Beth, Whitney, and Lorna (played by Lauren German, Bijou Phillips, and Heather Matarazzo) traveling to Slovakia for a vacation, but shortly upon arriving they are kidnapped the same "hunting" group from the first movie and are sold off to be tortured by the wealthy.

Final Thoughts

I don't know if this is going to be annual thing, but I thought it would be a bit of fun if I did my own State of the Union post for all my fellow readers.

As may of you already know, I no long participate in blog tours posts, such as book spotlights and cover reveals. I was assigned too many of these kinds of posts in 2018, which resulted in my reviews being shoved off of the homepage. Plus, setting up and reformatting all those spotlights was pain in the neck for me. I say, "Good Riddance!" However, don't worry, I'm still going to be signing up for the occasional book blog review tour.

Since I don't have to spend time every day working on "spotlights," I'll now have free time to start reading the books in my personal to-be-read pile. I'm finally going to finish reading Outlander by Dina Gabaldon. I had started reading it a few years ago, but I got sidetracked by other books that needed to reviewed and I never got around to finishing it. While my bookmark is still in place, I'll probably start at the very beginning. Then I'm going to read Dragonfly in Amber, Drums of Autumn, Voyager, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ash, An Echo in the Bone, and Written in My own Heart's Blood. My goal is to read all the books before the fifth season of the television series begins.

We could all use a bit more self-discipline in our lives.

Last year was extremely stressful for me for many reasons, and my procrastination issues didn't help any; which resulted in many late reviews and posts on this very blog.

Over the weekend, I spent an hour listening to the Self-Discipline ($3.95) by George Pain, which is basically a self-help audiobook narrated by Giles Miller.

In this 60-minute audiobook, where you will learn about the following:

• Cognitive Principles of Behavior
• What is a Habit Loop?
• Replacing Habits in a Habit Loop
• The power of delayed gratification.
• Understanding the Psychology of Procrastination
• Utilizing Habit Pyramids with Examples
• Areas to Apply Self Discipline

Self-Discipline can be purchased at: https://www.audible.com/pd/Self-Discipline-Volume-1-Audiobook/B074KLCWG8

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @  Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

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2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below. Please enter your Name/Nickname @ Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Here's an example: Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer

3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading a few posts and possible become a new follower. The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

Grab a book, any book.
Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader.
Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it).
Post it.
 Add your (url) post below in the Linky at: www.fredasvoice.com
Add the post url, not your blog url.

Wolgast thought about turning on the radio, maybe getting a weather report, but decided against it; he was still alert, despite the hour, and needed to keep his mind focused.

page 56, The Passage by Justin Crown

  My Thoughts